The recession is over, my friends. I received notification of a salary increase, my first increase in three years, and only the sixth in a decade. And I work in the energy industry. I feel sorry for all you non-energy industry peons.
by a whisker, i missed it being "that call", the one that changes your life forever
2 am, the phone, the sheriff, the 16 YO, the mishap on the road that, in the big picture, is really just a frikkin inconvenience and another goddamn output of money we dont have....
i am pretty sure the hammering of my heart will ease up in a bit
times like this can almost make ya nostalgic for a god to thank
bad lad and i are sitting on a panel for a program off-shoot of the governor's office dealing with safe schools, at the regional Comprehensive Educational Services Agency which services 12 school districts in this rural area
topic du jour is LGBT and the school climate report published by GLSEN (statistical data on bullying)
At long fucking last, my wife has a job offer. Those of you following along at home might remember that Texas refused to give her State Bar membership despite her experience practicing law, which would have been good enough for any other state in the fucking Union. But since they're Texas, she would have had to take their Bar exam, which we flat-out couldn't afford to deal with from a time or financial perspective.
So she has to practice strictly Federal law or not at all, by maintaining her California Bar membership and getting admitted to the local Federal District (which she has done). She got to know some attorneys for an Immigration law firm with offices in Miami and Los Angeles who were opening a new office in Houston, and helped them select a location.
So true to their word, they offered her a job, starting next month. I say "true to their word" because she's gotten bullshit promises from like 5 different potential employers. This one looks real. The money isn't quite what we would hope -- she should be making more than me, but won't be -- but it's acceptable, given the economy and the fact that her main experience isn't in immigration.
Phew. Hopefully I don't get ROM'd out of a job this year, or the celebration will be short-lived. But barring that, this shit may work out after all.
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"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
That's the official date for separation from my current employer. The contract with HP was signed last week and yesterday was a town hall meetingpep rally for HP. I didn't attend because I had already guessed the content which was it's a good thing for HP to be taking our jobs to India. HP and Con-way will make money, you now jobless peons should be happy.
Besides the ~30 senior management personnel already being rebadged, there will be 28 other positions open. 28 positions out of nearly 300 lost jobs and we are supposed to be happy. Those positions are all development jobs, jobs for the most part filled currently with contractors from India here on H1B visas.
One small consolation I suppose is that my job will most definitely be going to India (Bangalore) which opens up the ability to apply for Federal job training assistance.
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The best way to make America great is to lower the standards!
I'm pretty sure I posted about my uncle here last year. He was working for AUSAID in Thailand at the Bangkok Refugee Centre when they found cancer in one of his lungs. They pulled the whole lung out and then he came back to Australia for months of chemo and radio. Six weeks ago he finished his treatments and went to live with his daughter, my cousin, Andrea.
Andrea rang me tonight. Three weeks ago he started feeling nauseous all the time. Everything he ate he'd throw up. He had equilibrium problems. He went into hospital on Saturday for some scans. They found three tumours in his brain. They're inoperable. They're talking about radio to shrink them and extend his life, but there won't be a cure.
There is no definite prognosis at the moment. The hospital he is at is waiting for information from Townsville hospital where he had the chemo and radio. They need to know if they did a full body CT scan and if the tumours showed up on it. If they didn't they're negligent, if they did and the tumours are there and the oncologisty missed them, he's negligent, but if they did the scan and there are no tumours then the prognosis is shit and short. It means that they are growing very rapidly.
Either way it isn't good. Arthur rocks. He stuck up for me when I was being abused as a kid. He even called DOCS on his brother. He and Andrea were the only ones that came to my wedding from my adopted family. All the Irish adopted family are excused, but my immediate (father, mother and two sisters) family are not. Arthur has been there for me and us. It's a shite state of affairs.
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Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church.
The recession is over, my friends. I received notification of a salary increase, my first increase in three years, and only the sixth in a decade. And I work in the energy industry. I feel sorry for all you non-energy industry peons.
Yeah, and on Monday, I helped stimulate the economy to the tune of around $700 so I could pass my $21 NY state vehicle inspection.
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
I just closed on the house. Thanks to the folks that wrote advise in my "need lawyerlyish advise" thread, it was useful. Also, I got to read and talk nearly all the paperwork before closing, with my banker, who was very forbearing of me. It seems that mortgage and note contracts are far less complex than copyright contracts I've had to deal with in the past, and from which I have drawn my experience of contract language. So it was far less intimidating than I thought it was going to be.
And so now. I have a "forever" home , and will be moving out of my current digs before the end of April.
I've been down in Oz for 4 months now and have handed out hundreds of resumes. Tomorrow is the first interview I've scored. It's for a sandwich hand/barista.
We're struggling financially, so send me get-a-job vibes, please!
Boy met girl. Girl went back out of town to where she studies.
Girl back in town. Boy kissed girl. Girl kissed boy back. Girl suddenly very distant (first figuratively, then literally as she goes out of town). Girl eventually and after much silence says not ready to be in a relationship and besides, distance is meh.
Bleh.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
I'll leave the detailed observations for a post where I have more time, but for now, I'll just comment that there's an astonishing lack of birds in the place (Afghanistan, for those not keeping up). To the point that if you saw a bird, you'd actually remark upon it.
On leave for the next couple of months. Trying to figure out what's next for me in life. In the short term, I've got another half-year on my 1606 GI Bill, so I'll use it to upgrade my pilot certifications.
NTM
__________________
A man only needs two tools in life. WD-40 and duct tape. If it moves and it shouldn't, use the duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40.
I'm going to see the Los Angeles Opera's Ring Cycle!
It won't be my first live performance of the Ring (that was over the summer in Seattle in 1999), but I'm still psyched about it.
I made a little bit of a mistake, though, and signed up for tickets without looking at when the final production of the Long Beach Opera would be. I had believed Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Euridice was going to be in late May, but it turns out that I was wrong and it will be the evening before I go to see a 12 p.m. matinee of Siegfried. I'll probably check into a motel that night.
So five operas (including the LBO opera) in eight days.
It's also inspired me to record George Bernard Shaw's The Perfect Wagnerite for LibriVox. I hope to have it done before the first performance of Das Rheingold on May 28th.
I've been listening to clips from the Ring on Youtube all evening. I can hardly contain my excitement.
I am getting ready to head out to La-la Land. My auntie was good enough to fly me out for five days for a visit and to be a part of my bro and future sis's bridal shower. This will be my first out of state vacation in eight years.
I'm really excited. Not only do I get to see my bro, who I haven't seen in a year and a half, but I get to have some serious one on one time with my aunt. I really have never be able to connect with my mother's side of the family due to the great distance and my own emotional issues. She also has battled depression her entire life. It's funny that I think I am more like my aunt than I am like my mother, but due to our own freaks we've never really had a strong relationship. I'm hoping that this trip will be a chance to heal and grow for both of us. Of course that means that I am also filled with anxiety about the trip, but at the same time I keep telling myself it is a natural and normal anxiety. I can be anxious about the trip without that being a negative.
Well, due to an overlooked situation involving prerequisites, I am now going to be taking a class this summer, and then loading up again in the winter quarter to finish my BSEE in late February 2011, rather than the originally planned late May timeframe.
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
I have splashed out on a new guitar. It is the new love of my life.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
Second day back on the civilian job. He had spent his war in the 'hottest' part of our AO, survived a few bombs and firefights. His brother came over with us as well, I know the brother better than Ian, but Ian was always cheerful, always professional.
NTM
__________________
A man only needs two tools in life. WD-40 and duct tape. If it moves and it shouldn't, use the duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40.
My dad came to visit yesterday, he flew from Oregon Monday. He will be 78 years old in June and is fit as a fiddle. He looks really good for his age. He has never been more talkative nor has seemed as happy as he is now, not in a long time. He is walking 2.5 miles every day, he says he does it in about 45 minutes, a 3.33 mph pace, a pretty fast walk. Not bad considering his age and that he had knee replacement surgery in December. He's in a whole lot better shape than I am. And he'll probably outlive me.
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Sleep - the most beautiful experience in life - except drink.--W.C. Fields
My manager is leaving her position soon and there will be no replacement so our team will be broken up and sorted into the other managers.
So my managers manager just called me today and asked if I would be interested in being on a small test automation team that would be in charge of maintaining all the automation tools we use and developing new automation for our systems. You bet I would!
My sweetie graduated from law school today. I am so proud of him.
He got a job across the state which starts in September, though, so I guess now we've got to get serious about figuring out what to do with our house, finding a new place to live, a new job for me in case I can't transfer, etc.
Re: Member News
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, and will be moving out of my current digs before the end of April.
! I'm getting tattood April 27th! Four on my back and a few 
to complete the picture! 
I am so proud of him. 
Linear Mode
